


Cinnamon Daze

by kenmak0zume



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Dysphoria, Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, Trans Character, Trans Lance (Voltron), could get nsfw later on, homophobic parents, i'll warn u before there's anything that could be potentially triggering, lance's dad is a douchebag, real damn gay, though tbh i doubt it will be too bad, transphobic parents
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-11
Updated: 2017-02-04
Packaged: 2018-09-07 20:42:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8815627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kenmak0zume/pseuds/kenmak0zume
Summary: During a particularly cozy Fall season, Keith starts noticing the way the soft, golden sunlight of the evenings highlights Lance's faint freckles, and makes the blue hues in his dark eyes stand out a little more.Lance can't help but fall for the way Keith always gets coffee foam on his nose, and the cheap cologne he wears that smells of cinnamon, and his rare but incredible smile.These kids have it bad.





	1. Early

**Author's Note:**

> [edit]
> 
> hi there! i was really unhappy with this chapter so i kinda rewrote a lot of it? lmao anyway hope this is better

Keith woke with a start. His phone was on his bedside table, vibrating and playing some default tune. Without even looking, he knew who it was immediately. He groaned and rubbed his eyes, exhausted, before tapping the button to accept the call.

"Lance?"

"Hey, Keith, are you awake?" Lance said cheerily from the other end.

Keith sighed. "No, no. I'm sleeptalking. Or maybe this conversation is all in your imagination."

"Okay, dumb question. I get your point. Anyway, I called because I wanted to know if you were hungry."

Keith sat up a little, confused. "Hungry? Lance, it's," he glanced at his phone, regretting it immediately. The unexpected brightness of his phone practically blinded him. He squinted at the screen. "It's 1:30 in the morning, dude." Lance laughed, a breathy giggle which probably shot clouds of steam into the cooling, late autumn night air.

"Look, dude, I'm outside your house and I've got a bag of mini donuts in my hand with your name on it."

Keith immediately shot up, fully alert and awake. "I'll be right down."

"Yeah yeah, that's what I thought."

 

Five minutes later and Keith was standing on the street barefoot, his dinosaur print pajama pants unable to be stealthily covered by his red jacket. Fashion came at a cost, sometimes. He was still incredibly tired, but he snapped out of his dazed state when he smelled the cinnamon and sugar coated mini donuts coming from the paper bag that had just been slapped into his hand. He grinned softly, immediately shoving three donuts into his mouth. He looked up at Lance, finally acknowledging him. Lance laughed at the poor boy. Keith's eyes were surrounded by deep purple circles, his cheeks were bulging, full of donuts, and he had crumbs all around his mouth. He looked like a mess.

“Thanks, dude,” Keith mumbled through mouthfuls of food.

"Don't mention it," Lance smiled. He was finding Keith's messy behavior somewhat endearing. He'd chalk that up to a combination of stress and exhaustion. "Though, you totally look ridiculous right now. Like, if a balloon rolled in sand and then didn't sleep for three days."

Keith swallowed. "That's a weird simile. But maybe said balloon would've slept better if it hadn't been woken up at nearly 2am," he laughed as they sat down on the curb, side by side. "What're you even doing here, anyway?"

"Ah, just couldn't sleep. No big deal," Lance said. "I figured if I was gonna wake you up this early, I should bring, like, a bribe or something. Hence the donuts." Keith frowned.

Keith had known Lance since middle school.

Their relationship started off rocky. It was a messy mixture of mocking names, playground fights, bloody noses and black eyes. Both kids were suspended several times because, no matter what their teachers did, they always ended up on the verge of knocking each other out. They had hated each other, right from the get go.

If you had told thirteen year-old Keith that Lance would be waking him up at 1:30am to eat mini sugared donuts together, he would’ve laughed, made some stupid remark something along the lines of “never gonna happen”, but with more teenage angst. And yet, here he was. Somewhere along the line they began to tolerate each other, and now, in their junior year of high school, they were inseparable. Keith was used to Lance's early morning shenanigans, and his ability to persuade Keith with confectionery. He was also fully aware of when Lance was lying, or dodging a question. He sighed. Something was up.

"Is it your dad?" Keith asked gently. He felt bad for prying, but he also felt bad when he didn't help. There was no winning.

Lance swallowed, keeping his eyes down. He nodded, just once.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Lance shook his head and drew in a slow, shaky breath. Wordlessly, Keith put an arm around Lance's shoulders, pulling him close. Lance's head rested in the crook of his friend's neck, breathing in slowly. Lance couldn't help but recognize how right it felt to be right where he was, curled up against his best friend. When Keith moved his arm down and resumed casual conversation, Lance remembered Keith's heterosexuality, and was suddenly hit with a wall of "it's never gonna happen so don't even bother".

But right then, right there, with greasy snacks and each other and nothing more, they were happy. It was simple, and it was early and tiring and it was _good_.

And maybe, Lance thought, maybe this was enough.

 

Lance smiled as Keith pulled his phone out of his jacket and glanced at the screen. 2:37am.

“Ah shit, I should head back in,” Keith yawned. “Got an AP Bio test tomorrow.” Lance’s smile faltered as he realised he was going to have to go back home at some point. Talk to his dad at some point.

“Y-Yeah, sorry for keeping you out so late, dude. See you tomorrow,” Lance managed to get out as he and Keith stood up off the side of the road. Keith sighed quietly, and put a hand on his friend’s shoulder.

“Lance… You’re gonna be okay, I promise.”

Tears welled in Lance’s eyes and he looked down, blinking rapidly, and nodded. “Okay.” Lance took a deep breath, smiled at Keith, and walked back down the street to his house.

Keith stood there for a moment, watching to make sure his friend was safe until he was out of sight.


	2. Texting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to Dysphoria Town, population: Lance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey!! this chapter is a bit gay. here u go.  
> also there's talk about anxiety and dysphoria in this chapter (after they start walking home) so if it makes you uncomfortable feel free to skip it!
> 
> also i live for the trans lance hc so heres some more of that good stuff
> 
> enjoy

Keith sighed as he turned in his test paper.

He had never been all that good at biology, and he asked himself why he took the AP class every day. He probably got a B- at most on that test. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a small, light haired classmate running out of the same biology classroom he had just been in, and Keith raised an arm to clothesline them. The kid hit Keith’s arm with a thud and an “oof!”.

“Agh! You’re a jerk,” they shouted.  
“I know, it’s part of my charm,” Keith laughed. “How’d you do on the test?”  
“Aced it, obviously.”  
“Oh, and I’m the jerk?”  
Pidge laughed at that, pushing their circular glasses back up the bridge of their nose. “Well, yeah. It’s part of my charm!”

They laughed at each other, poking fun as they walked to their lunch table.

“KEITH! PIDGE!” A voice yelled as they approached their table. A tall, muscular guy was beckoning them over, smiling. The guy would’ve almost been intimidating looking, threatening even, if it wasn’t for his kind eyes and bright smile. His dark hair was undercut and bleached white at the front. Next to him, holding his hand under the table, was a beautiful girl with dark skin and long, white hair.

Shiro and Allura were the school’s power couple. They were seniors, popular and pretty and straight-A students. They were also two of the kindest people on the planet, according to anyone they’d ever met.

Lance was sitting on the table, feet up on the seat and turned to face Shiro and Allura, caught in conversation. He looked exhausted. His eyes were bloodshot, surrounded by deep purple circles. Keith guessed that Lance hadn’t slept much after he got home from their midnight feast (if you can call one bag of donuts a feast). Lance glanced over at Keith, and the smaller boy realised he had been staring. Lance grinned, just a little  _too_ wide, a little bit of falsehood in his smile that was obvious only to Keith. He didn't want to say anything about it in front of their other friends, he knew that would just make Lance uncomfortable and upset. He pulled out his phone and sent a text.

-

Lance's phone buzzed in his pocket. 

**from: mullet boi  
You doing ok?**

Lance's mouth drooped. He should've guessed Keith would know if something was up.

**to: mullet boi  
ya just tired lmao didnt sleep after i got home :( regret**

**from: mullet boi  
Are you sure that's all? **

The message startled him. He thought he was doing a really good job pretending he was alright. He was the humor of the group, so being anything but lighthearted and comedic threw the whole group's vibe off, so he felt like he had to keep up the pretence.

**to: mullet boi  
nah its not but i dont really wanna talk abt it in front of the squad ill probably cry lmao**

-

 **from: yes homo**  
**nah its not but i dont really wanna talk abt it in front of the squad ill probably cry lmao**  
  
Keith sighed and looked over at Lance. He had his phone tight in his hands, and he was looking down, shaking ever so slightly. It hurt to see Lance like this. He cared so much about him. So, so much. And it hurt Keith to know there wasn't anything he could do to make him feel better right now. A buzzing on his phone snapped him out of his reverie.

 **from: pidgey**  
**u filthy homo dont think i dont see ur contact name for lance**

Keith's face was completely red. He _knew_ the contact name was a bad idea and he internally kicked himself for being stupid and keeping it. He snuck a glance at Pidge, only to find them looking at him with the most smug, shit-eating grin ever.  
Oh  _no._

**from: pidgey  
relax dude no one else has noticed. i wont say anything to shiro and allura**

**to: pidgey  
What about Lance?**

**from: pidgey  
i wont say anything to shiro and allura**

**to: pidgey  
You bastard**

 

 

-

That afternoon, Lance waited for Keith outside the school. It had become routine to walk home together, since they lived so close together. The streets around him were filled with teenagers and golden-brown leaves, each step anyone took resulting in a satisfying crunch. He could see Keith coming out of the school doors, backpack slung lazily over one shoulder. He grinned to himself. He liked Keith more than he cared to admit, and was happy he could have this time to just admire him from a distance. But soon, Keith was by his side, and they were walking through street after street.

"Hey, so, like..." Keith trailed off.  
"Mm?" Lance hummed.  
"Are you doing alright? I mean you said you were having a bad time so..."  
"Oh," Lance's face dropped. "Nah, not really. Ok, I mean."  
"Do you wanna talk about it?" Keith stopped, turning to his friend.  
"I..." Lance started. "I mean it's nothing too bad, just been a bit dysphoric, that's all. And with my dad judging my every move on top of that, it hasn't exactly been a great time." They kept walking, golden light flickering through the trees.  
"Ah, that sucks dude, I'm sorry," Keith said quietly. He wasn't familiar with the feeling of dysphoria himself, but knew that if it was bad enough to have Lance often call Keith in the middle of the night during an anxiety attack, then it must be pretty shitty.  
"Don't worry, dude. It's not as bad as it used to be."  
  
As they approached Lance's house, Lance noticed his dad's car in the driveway and grimaced. The last thing he wanted right now was to have to deal with him. Keith noticed the car and sighed.  
"You can come to my place, if you want," Keith offered, concerned. Lance smiled at him.  
"Thanks, but I don't think he'd take that too well," he said, gesturing to the house with his thumb. Keith nodded, and looked up at Lance. They were staring at each other, both with uncertainty in their eyes. And when did they move closer together?  
"Lance?" Keith said, his voice low. Lance's hand grazed Keith's lower arm softly. There were mere inches between them, he just had to-  


Lance's phone beeped, and they jumped apart.  
He pulled his phone from his pocket, reading the message quickly.

**from: mamá  
Laura, can you please do the dinner tonight? I have to pick up the twins from swimming practice. Love you xx**

  
"It was just my mom," Lance sighed, trying his best to ignore the deadname.   
"Ok, well, I uhh..." Keith stuttered, face red. "I should, um, go home now."  
"'Kay, see ya," Lance said, before watching Keith awkwardly wander home. After a moment, he turned toward his front door, bracing himself for the impact of the man on the other side.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> am i projecting my own dysphoria onto lance
> 
> u bet ur ass i am hell yea
> 
> anyway i hope y'all have a good time and im srry this chapter took so long to come out! turns out im not actually that good at this, and i had to rewrite 3 times! yay

**Author's Note:**

> i've basically planned out most (if not all) of this so like........if y'all like it i'll keep updating but if ya don't then i'll ditch it  
> sorry if it's shit i haven't written anything in a really long time but like it seems ok to me so whatever
> 
> also future chapters will be much longer than this dw. and it's gonna get sad. real sad. grab ur tissues


End file.
